While I enjoy keeping busy, being buried under a ton of work, dance, helping out with wedding plans and doing team building can really take its toll on a girl.

So when there's finally time for a breather, I usually indulge in my next favourite thing. Hunting down interesting new restaurants. And this time, there are 2!

First up is Food for Thought (pictures on the right). Located right across from the National Library on North Bridge Road, this little gem of a cafe serves a variety of yummy sandwiches, soups and salads that are guaranteed to perk up a tiring day at work. The service is excellent and the staff are friendly and warm.

Alicia, being the carnivore that she is had the Pulled Pork Sandwich. By all counts, this is a wining dish as the woman only surfaced half-way through her sandwich to provide commentary. Not bad! I meanwhile decided to include more greens in my diet with a chicken caesar salad and mushroom soup. The salad's nice and light and came with a dark soya-sauce based dressing. Yum! The mushroom soup - well, is a little too mushroomy for me though.

The drinks and desserts were the winners of the night though - as you can tell. Despite being a little sick, the Frozen Lychee Sage perked me right up and the Watermelon Mint had a nice, fresh taste. What made my day is the Old-Fashioned Red Velvet Cake. It's a red butter cake that comes with a nice layer of cheese icing and has a hint of coco aftertaste...Heaven!

During the same week, a bunch of us got together to try out Minoru. Located at Hong Leong Garden Shopping Centre, this little gem of a Japanese restaurant was a great start to our weekend.

Firstly, their fish is fresh. There is a lot to be said for Japanese dining and especially how they serve their fish and yes, I could go on and on about it but, well, you have to try it out.

They had saba in season, there was uni (sea urchin), red snapper, a whole bunch of sashimi (otoro! i heart otoro...I also heart a lot of things about Japanese food) and one of the best negitoro rolls that I ever had!

Suffice to say, we stuffed ourselves silly. Add that to the fact that Uncle Chia, the chef is one of the friendliest sushi chefs around - and that he also kept the interesting, off-the menu stuff coming to the table, we were very happy campers indeed. The price is not too bad, considering there were seven of us, the bill came to slightly over $500. The drinks that night were strictly BOYB but this is up to the restaurant, too.

The best time to go would be Tuesdays and Saturdays, which is when their fresh fish arrives. Reservations are a must as the restautant can pack in quite a dinner crowd, especially nearing the weekend. Ah, to more gastronomic adventures!